Fifth Third\u2019s first California branch<\/a> at 7160 N. First St. in Northeast Fresno \u2014 a 4,950-square-foot space in the former Chase Bank building that marks the bank\u2019s first de novo branch in the state, meaning the first built from the ground up rather than acquired through the bank\u2019s February merger with Comerica Inc.<\/p>\nHe said the Valley\u2019s economic scale made the choice straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made just perfect sense to start in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley. There\u2019s a tremendous amount of commerce in the Valley, and to some degree it\u2019s somewhat underbanked,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Agriculture is central to the bank\u2019s Valley strategy. Smith said Fifth Third has booked more than $600 million in commitments over the past 18 months, roughly 60% of it agriculturally focused \u2014 farmers, processors, marketers and companies that move agricultural products. The bank has joined the American Pistachio Growers, Western Growers Association and the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California as an associate member, and is a corporate partner of Ag One at Fresno State.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re going to be relevant in the Valley, production ag and ag-adjacent businesses are the cornerstone of our communities,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Smith brings deep regional roots to the role \u2014 he spent 20 years as a regional manager with Wells Fargo and served as president and CEO of Valley Republic Bank in Bakersfield before joining Fifth Third.<\/p>\n
The Fresno branch is the first of 85 planned California locations. By 2027, the bank plans to rebrand the California branches it inherited through its Comerica merger, which created the ninth-largest bank in the country with about $294 billion in total assets. The branch represents the bank\u2019s first retail presence in a state where it already has an established business banking footprint \u2014 Fifth Third expanded its Central Valley lending team in 2025 and added a second office in the region.<\/p>\n
As for the bank\u2019s unusual name \u2014 it traces to 1908, when Cincinnati\u2019s Fifth National Bank and Third National Bank merged. Legend has it that management put \u201cFifth\u201d before \u201cThird\u201d deliberately: \u201cThird Fifth\u201d sounded a little too much like a liquor order during an era when the Prohibition movement was gaining steam.<\/p>\n
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![\"bank](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fifth_Third_Bank_Headquarters.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"man's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geraud-smith-fifth-third-bank-northern-california-region-president.jpg\")
Geraud Smith<\/p>\n